People who park illegally on private property in the Village of Great Neck Plaza will see an increase in fees for having their car “booted.”
At Wednesday’s meeting, the village’s Board of Trustees unanimously voted to amend village code to increase fees for vehicle immobilization, better known as booting, from $125 to $300.
“The village does not do the booting. An operator would have to have an agreement or contract with a private property owner,” Village of Great Neck Plaza Clerk-Treasurer Patricia O’Byrne said. “We’re just trying to make sure we regulate and know whose out there doing it.”
Sean Fagan, an employee at Fagan’s Towing at 22 Watermill Lane in Great Neck, said $300 was the standard price in Nassau County.
“That’s what everybody in the industry that is licensed by the Town of North Hempstead charges,” he said.
Increased booting fees are one of three changes made to village code, which Village Attorney Richard Gabriele said had not been changed in 18 years.
The next code change would remove the requirement for towing or booting companies to accept major credit cards.
“I think the reason for that was back then there were no ATM machines and there was a lot less access to cash,” Gabriele said. “This change removes that provision”
The last code change the board is considering would increase the fee to obtain a booting license, which Gabriele said costs $100 to obtain and $25 to renew each year in current village code.
The change would see the license fee increase to $250 and the yearly renewal fee increase to $100.
Village of Great Neck Mayor Jean Celender said the village code should be amended to be up-to-date with standard fees.
“I think that the most board members are feeling like this should be amended. I mean, 18 years,” she said. “What fees haven’t gone up?”
